Posts Tagged ‘movie adaptation’

I love a good adaptation, but rarely do I find one. After finishing Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan, I checked to see if my library carried a verison on film. They did.

I was pleasantly surprised with the movie. To tell you the truth, I rather enjoyed it.

It’s A Good Woman starring Helen Hunt as Ms. Erlynne and Scarlett Johansson as Lady Windermere. There were few changes from the play. The setting was moved to Italy and in the 1930’s, neither I felt detracted from the story. The Windermere’s have only been married for one year and do not have a child yet. And the “big secret” is revealed in a different way, as is Ms. Erlynne’s connection to Lord Windermere, who is no longer a Lord but a wealthy American businessman.

It was a good adaptation and made me want to read the play again. I found Wilde’s wit more alive on screen than when I originally read the play. All those one liners in the midst of card conversations made sense and the caricature of women even better.

Amy Dorrit’s (newbie, Claire Foy) gentle spirit has never been dampened by the confining walls of the Marshalsea Prison she’s lived in her whole life. Despite the dark shadow of debtor’s prison, Amy lovingly cares for her father William Dorrit (Tom Courtenay), the longest serving inmate. A possibly redemptive light unexpectedly shines in the form of Arthur Clennam (Matthew Macfadyen, Mr. Darcy from Pride & Prejudice), who has been left with the intriguing threads of a mystery after his father’s death — threads that will intertwine his family and fate with the Dorrits. Clennam’s exhaustive search for answers involves murder, fortunes gained and lost, the upper echelons and lowest dregs of society, and most surprising of all, a tender romance.

If you missed seeing it on PBS, it’s available online until Sunday, May 3rd. It’s definitely worth the time.

Each episode was a cliffhanger, but the end felt as if there were a few loose strings. Not all of the mysteries seemed adequately answered, which could be the difference between the novel and the film adaptation. But the cinematography was wonderful and the characters were delightful.